MTN South Africa has announced that it will offer Apple’s iPhone 5 in South Africa as of Friday, 14 December.

Customers can now pre-register for the iPhone 5, which will be available locally on a 24 month contract for R529 per month for the 16 GB model, R579 per month for the 32 GB version and R629 per month for the 64 GB model at selected MTN stores.

The operator stated that iPhone 5 users will be able to connect to MTN South Africa’s HSPA+ and DC–HSDPA network. Cupertino’s iPhone 5 is the lightest (112g; 20% lighter than iPhone 4S) and thinnest (7.6 mm anodized aluminum body) smartphone the firm released thus far. It is powered by the company’s snappier A6 dual-core CPU, features a larger 4" (640 x 1136 resolution; 326 ppi) Retina display and operates on iOS 6.   

MTN SA customers now also have access to the iTunes Store in South Africa featuring a large catalog of more than 20 million songs, which they can purchase and download.

Pricing and details for iPhone:

 

In related news, MTN SA recently joined Vodacom in going live with the commercial availability of LTE (long term evolution). For now, the Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban regions are covered, and as of 1 December 2012, South African consumers will be able to purchase LTE devices and access the technology on the MTN network.